Being Better
by CrimsonRae
Summary: Sloan was used to doing it alone. The Doyles changed all of that.


A/N: I just binged watched the entire Republic of Doyle series and loved it. While Sloan wasn't one of my favorite characters, I did love to see Jake's father-daughter relationship with her and the influence it had on both of them. This is just me picking up where things left off. Please read review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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 **Promises**

She was used to breaking promises. It was the way her world worked. People made promises and then broke their word... That was her world. That was what made sense to Sloan Daniels. People who kept promises were suckers, losers to be taken for granted. It was a fact that everyone knew. At least, that was how she had been taught to think. It was how she thought until the Doyles' turned her world upside down.

The Doyles' kept their promises. Jake Doyle kept his promises – even before he had thought that she was his daughter. The promise to come if she called. She did call and he did come. The promise to take care of her, no matter what. He took care of her even after he had found out the truth. Even after he knew that she was a liar, a con, and a thief.

Sloan broke her promises. It never made her feel guilty...until four months ago. It was in that moment as she began to load the last of the Doyles' savings into her bag as Luke drained their financial accounts online that she felt the first twinges of shame. These people had been good to her. Had taken her in without blinking, had fed her, taken care of her, pushed her to be more... to be better. She had repaid that kindness by taking everything from them and she had felt... inhuman. It hadn't been a good feeling.

She had shrugged it off and used the vestiges of those twisted emotions to clean out Vic Saul. There had been no guilt in taking that dick smack for all he had, only fear. But she wouldn't admit to that under pain of pain of death.

She had thought the guilt would disappear after a few days. She would forget the Doyles', start over with Luke somewhere... Become someone other than Sloan Daniels. How hard could that be?

Hard.

Harder than Sloan anticipated. She kept the money she stole, didn't bother spending more than she needed to get by. Hell, she had even managed to double her share with a couple of quick betting scams. Luke had spent his like a kid in a candy store and then had try to take her share. She had little regret in kicking that bellhead to the curb. She rolled her eyes as she thought of her idiot ex-boyfriend. Luke understood her world. He broke his promises too.

It had been that realization that had brought her back to the Doyles' slice of Saint John's. It was why she had carried that damn duffle of money with her. She broke her promises. Luke broke his promises. The Doyles' did not break their promises.

Sloan had debated about breaking into the Doyle & Doyle Investigation office and replacing the money she had taken while everyone was gone. Insurance companies could take forever to pay out on claims. Bureaucracies could be a nightmare. She didn't want to admit that she wanted to go back to the first place that felt like home. For the first time in years she had a family... a really honest to God family. She had spent too long in her head when Saul's goons found her and all her carefully constructed lies began to unwind.

The fear and pain in Jake's eyes had done more to hurt her than any hit could. The inhuman feeling had come back in a vengeance as he lectured her in his stupid car. She had wanted to hug him for caring so much, but she ran away instead. Running was easy... until it wasn't.

She endured Jake's hurt, his hope and betrayal, but she almost welcomed Rose's distrust and anger. Despite the older woman's new caustic attitude toward her, Sloan understood it. She understood anger, and suspicion... it was in those moments that she remembered that Rose understood her world too. She just didn't live in it anymore. Sloan didn't want to live in it anymore either. It was why she had confessed to the police, why she had finally admitted to Jake that he wasn't a father. She was ready to be better, even if it would just destroy her in the end.

But Jake wouldn't let her. He wouldn't let her take responsibility for the wrongs she had caused. He was still protecting her, taking care of her, even after everything... he kept his promise. And he expected her to keep hers.

It was why four months later Sloan found herself sitting in a shitty bare-bones studio apartment that would be better considered a closet. Textbooks and school papers strewn around her. She would be keeping her promise this time. She swallowed tightly as she glanced over the messily scribbled letter she had been agonizing over.

 _I'm trying._

 _It's a start, right?_

 _-Sloan_

She sighed in annoyance before stuffing the note with a copy of her latest progress report and a copy of the paystub from her job at the local coffee shop into an envelope. No more scams. No more skipping school. She was going to do better. She was keeping her damn promise.

Sloan quickly sealed the enveloped and addressed it to Jake. A second envelope sat at her feet. She addressed that one to Rose, but made sure to leave off a return address. There was no letter inside, no apologies... she had a feeling that Rose wouldn't care for excuses. Inside was a payment. Two-hundred dollars. It was nothing in the face of what she had taken, but it was all she could spare. Jake may not have let her confess, but she would fix what she broke... even if it took her years, even if she had to do it in secret. Rose would take the money, Sloan was sure of it.

She stared at the two envelopes for a moment, half tempted to stow the parcels in a drawer. She didn't. She was going to be better and she was going to prove it.


End file.
